AlphaBakes E Round up

It's time for another AlphaBakes round up. I know E was quite a difficult letter so thank you to everyone who submitted an entry. One lucky entrant has won a copy of Pure Vanilla - scroll to the bottom to find out who it is! Remember to head over to Caroline's blog on 1st March to find out what letter we are baking with next month. I think we've done most of the easy letters so it looks like it's all uphill from here :) I do love a good baking challenge so bring it on I say! 

First up is Jacqueline (Caroline's mum) with eccles pastries. 

Next we have Lauren from A Baked Thesis with Eccles Cakes. She used a Mary Berry recipe which uses a combination of currants and candied peel. She made her own puff pastry and has lovely step by step photos if you feel the urge to make your own. 

Moving away from Eccles for now is Mich from Piece of Cake with her Spinach and Cheese Souffle. I can't believe it's the first time she's made souffles as it looks amazing. She was worried about the souffle collapsing and not getting a good photograph but I think it looks perfect.

Eira from Cookbooks Galore sent us some cute elfin cakes. She got this recipe from an old 1960 cookbook that belongs to her mum. She baked this with her grandson and the sprinkles were his idea - genius! 

Grace from Life Can Be Simple baked some earl grey tea cookies using tea she bought in Korea. She also has a fancy mould that makes perfectly square cookies - I so desperately want one myself! 

Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen made Esther's Orange Marmalade Layer Cake.  This cake features in the Mitford series of books written by Jan Karon. I've  never heard or read of these but I am tempted to check them out now after seeing this gorgeous cake. 

Jacqueline is back with another 'E' cake. They are actually sponge cakes with cream cheese frosting in the shape of a pop group's initials - Electric Light Ochestra. 

Helen from Fuss Free Flavours made us a Vegan Date and Orange cake. The E here is that the cake is eggless (and butterless). She adapted her original recipe of an easy peasy ginger cake to make this delicious treat. It's a mix all in one cake using store cupboard ingredients, perfect for a last minute bake. 

Caroline's sister also joined in the fun this month with her espresso cupcakes.

Suelle from Mainly Baking found E to be a challenging letter. She thought of Eccles cakes initially but decided they were too time consuming and then remembered an Ecclefechan tart, named after a place in Scotland. She used a mix of dried fruits including sultanas, blueberries, glacé cherries, cranberries and strawberries baked in a shortcrust pastry shell. She also added zest of a tangerine to freshen the flavour. It sounds amazing and I'm sure you'll agree that it looks delicious. 

Next is my entry with a Pistachio, Yoghurt and Elderflower cake. I know elderflowers are not in season but I really struggled to think of E bakes apart from eclairs or eccles cakes, both of which I ruled out due to it's fiddly nature. This is a Jamie Oliver recipe which was easy to put together and tasted amazing.

My co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes baked some delicious sounding Elvis Cupcakes - banana, peanut butter and bacon. Apparently Elvis's favourite sandwich filling was banana, peanut butter and bacon so Caroline decided to make it in cupcake form! I am loving the sound of caramelized bacon! 

Fiona from Let Them Eat Cake had to bake a cake for work and decided on a Elderflower and Poppyseed cake. She had good feedback about the cake and I'm not surprised as it looks delicious! 

Next are Espresso Cupcakes from Dawn from Wild About Baking. She used a Nigella recipe and the result was a lovely, light cake with an intense coffee flavour. I love the chocolate ganache topping. 

Caroline is back again with Elephant Ears otherwise known as palmiers. They are essentially baked puff pastry sprinkled with sugar. Yes please!

My mum has been on a roll this month. She made three delicious entries for us. First an eggless apricot and raisin cake. The apricots and raisins are soaked in orange juice for an hour before baking. The cake was moist and delicious. 

Her next offering is an English Lemon Gateau which is a sponge cake sandwiched with homemade lemon curd and covered in whipped cream.

Finally a recipe she devised herself after my dad suggested eggplant for E - an eggplant cake made from eggplant, soft tofu, eggs, olive oil, soya milk and flour. The cake was moist but not salty enough. I think it sounds interesting and would love to try a slice. 

Mel from Sharky Oven Gloves baked some gorgeous looking Earl Grey & Lemon Melting Moments. She made a cup of tea to think about E entries and came up with these. It's really nice and summery where she is so these are perfect for an 'after swim in the sea' treat. 

Elderflower has been quite popular this month. This time it's a Raspberry and Elderflower Bakewell Pudding by Claire from Under the Blue Gum Tree. The recipe inspiration comes from the Hairy Bikers Food tour of Britain. She made individual puddings which look really pretty. 

I'm back again with English Madeleines. I'd never made them before but came across them whilst searching for E bakes. They are basically sponge cakes baked in a dariole mould, covered in jam, rolled in coconut and topped with half a cherry. I think they look really cute, don't you? 

Last but not least is Jean from Baking in Franglais with an Eighteenth Century Tart. It's a dessert that she used to make regularly in the 1990's and I'm sure she'll be baking more of them now that she's rediscovered them. It's an orange curd tart with grated apple on top. Sounds delicious! 

That's all for this month. Now on to the lucky winner of Pure Vanilla picked at random by a random number generator..... Congratulations Dawn from Wild About Baking! An email with details will follow. Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st March to see what the letter is for next month.... I'm telling you now that it's not easy but I'm sure you'll rise to the challenge!